HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1900-2002)


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
eya said:
The Queen Mother never allowed Diana to be mentioned | Daily Mail Online

"Don't mention Diana! Charles was the Queen Mum's most cherished grandchild-wich is why , when his marriage ended , she never allowed Diana's name to be uttered in her presence again.. as revealed by her own loyal equerry"
Click to expand...

The QM took side for her beloved grandchild. A well known fact and hardly surprising at all. Tough times for everyone in the family.
I'm more interested in the less than flattering portrayal of Andrew ..
 
This portrayal of Andrew is fairly stock standard. It isn't anything new at all I don't think. It certainly fits with the information that came out at the time he was forced to give up the Trade Ambassador's job.

We all know that the QM favoured the future Kings over the other grandchildren and great-grandchildren (Charles and William over the others). That doesn't mean she didn't love the others but she had a softer spot for them - probably knowing what was ahead for them having been married to a King.
 
Nico said:
The QM took side for her beloved grandchild. A well known fact and hardly surprising at all. Tough times for everyone in the family.
I'm more interested in the less than flattering portrayal of Andrew ..
Click to expand...


Me too. Andrew sounds like a nightmare to work for!

(And, if it's true about Diana calling the wives of equerries and the like, then she sounds as if she was seriously disturbed. I never knew she did that).
 
It goes to show: despite all the titles, castles, money, pomp and pageantry that surrounds the royals, they're just as dysfunctional as any other family. No perfect families on this planet.

The Queen Mother sounds like a typical mother and grandmother of her time, warm and cold as hell when she feels like it. Margaret sounds like any other bratty and spoiled daughter. Andrew reminds you of the uncle you'd rather avoid if you can. Charles reminds you of the rich entitled first born who lives in his own world. Diana reminds you of the wife that will leave you sleeping with one eye open some nights.

The Queen reminds me of a kind woman, but don't abuse her kindness.
 
Last edited:
Why did the Queen Mother take so long to move out of Buckingham Palace after King George's death?

She moved to Clarence House in May 1953, just weeks before the coronation as far as I recall.

It seems that she was really resentful of her daughter taking the top spot and wanted to cling to it for as long as possible. When the Queen and Prince Philip moved to BP in May 1952, they had to stay in more modest quarters because the Queen Mother was still using the grand rooms all for herself.

Apparently she was waiting for Queen Mary to die so she could move to Marlbough House, much bigger and lavish than Clarence House.
 
If true it is reprehensible by today's standards. However the Queen Mother was born in 1900 at a time when Britain had an Empire and was ruling large portions of Africa and other parts of the world. She was well into middle age before it all finished and obviously kept the prejudices of her time, if we believe Sir Roy. It's of a piece with the Duke of Windsor's anti-semitism and George Duke of Kent's very right wing views. Another place, another time.

There's nothing I've ever read that shows that King George VI ever expressed similar views, and it's certainly not true of the Queen.
 
Kronprinz said:
Why did the Queen Mother take so long to move out of Buckingham Palace after King George's death?

She moved to Clarence House in May 1953, just weeks before the coronation as far as I recall.

It seems that she was really resentful of her daughter taking the top spot and wanted to cling to it for as long as possible. When the Queen and Prince Philip moved to BP in May 1952, they had to stay in more modest quarters because the Queen Mother was still using the grand rooms all for herself.

Apparently she was waiting for Queen Mary to die so she could move to Marlbough House, much bigger and lavish than Clarence House.
Click to expand...

Clarence House was refurbished for Queen Elizabeth, to serve as her new residence. To the wishes of the new residente, the Morning Room was created in the space that had been The Duke of Edinburgh’s study. A Georgian marble chimneypiece was installed in the main salon.

New plaster ceilings were made with her own crown. The whole mansion was re-decorated to the wishes of Queen Elizabeth. She made a habit of calling foreign royals visiting the United Kingdom for a traditional English Tea.

So nothing resentful towards her daughter or "clinging" onto something but simply a matter of logistics, in my humble opinion.
 
Curryong said:
If true it is reprehensible by today's standards. However the Queen Mother was born in 1900 at a time when Britain had an Empire and was ruling large portions of Africa and other parts of the world. She was well into middle age before it all finished and obviously kept the prejudices of her time, if we believe Sir Roy. It's of a piece with the Duke of Windsor's anti-semitism and George Duke of Kent's very right wing views. Another place, another time.

There's nothing I've ever read that shows that King George VI ever expressed similar views, and it's certainly not true of the Queen.
Click to expand...

Very true Curryong and I hope that historians will keep this in mind when discussing the public figures of that era.
 
Duc_et_Pair said:
Clarence House was refurbished for Queen Elizabeth, to serve as her new residence. To the wishes of the new residente, the Morning Room was created in the space that had been The Duke of Edinburgh’s study. A Georgian marble chimneypiece was installed in the main salon.

New plaster ceilings were made with her own crown. The whole mansion was re-decorated to the wishes of Queen Elizabeth. She made a habit of calling foreign royals visiting the United Kingdom for a traditional English Tea.

So nothing resentful towards her daughter or "clinging" onto something but simply a matter of logistics, in my humble opinion.
Click to expand...

I didn't know Clarence House had to undergo such extensive renovations. That makes sense now.

However, from what I know the Queen Mother was not a fan of CH, calling it "that horrid little house".
 
Nico said:
The QM took side for her beloved grandchild. A well known fact and hardly surprising at all. Tough times for everyone in the family.
I'm more interested in the less than flattering portrayal of Andrew ..
Click to expand...

Charles was the Queen Mother's favorite grandchild, period. I could see Sarah Chatto being her favorite granddaughter.


Charles was probably Margaret's favorite nephew, since he was her eldest nephew, when she was 18.
 
Denville said:
realy? The QM has her faults but she would be a very nasty woman if she really thogth lke this.
Click to expand...

Well, she showed to be very vengeful on other occasions, namely regarding Wallis Simpson. She held that grudge for over 60 years.
 
Kronprinz said:
Well, she showed to be very vengeful on other occasions, namely regarding Wallis Simpson. She held that grudge for over 60 years.
Click to expand...

Certainly the Duke and Duchess blamed the Queen Mother for the estrangement & the refusal to recognize the Duchess as an HRH, however I've long suspected they were wide of the mark. The person most adamant about not recognizing the Duchess was Queen Mary, she set the tone for the females in the family.
The Duke and Duchess did nothing to endear themselves to the Queen Mother as the years went on. First, David lied about his finances and received the promise of a stipend personally paid by the King, which was money that should have gone to the King's own family. Next, their behavior during the war was a huge problem creating a lot of stress for the King and Winston Churchill. The Duke abandoned his military post in France and after they'd fled they dawdled to the point of almost being kidnapped by the German's and set up to replace the King and Queen when Germany won the war.
David had to be threatened w/ treason to get them safely away. & of course David's public statements in the US advocating peace during the war interfered w/ his government's objectives. Their petty complaints and demands during the war didn't sit well w/ the King and Queen or Churchill who were in the midst of the bombings and seeing daily devastation.
The Duke and Duchess chose the Queen Mother to be a scapegoat and attributed their exclusion to her petty jealousy because that made them sound like mistreated victims, but the truth is they earned the animus of Queen Mary, the King and Winston Churchill & the wartime government because of their actions.
It's great soap opera/drama to lay the blame on a feud between two women, but to do so ignores reality and covers up their own very petty and self centered behavior.
 
books about the Queen Mother

I just finished reading "The Queen Mother" , by William Shawcross and am almost finished with "The Queen Mother: the Untold Story ..." by Lady Colin Campbell. The Shawcross novel was wonderful, but I am not quite sure what to make of the Campbell book. She takes a hatchet to the Queen Mother's character. How legit is this book? I prefer to think of the queen mother as presented in Shawcross novel.
 
Last edited:
sndral said:
Certainly the Duke and Duchess blamed the Queen Mother for the estrangement & the refusal to recognize the Duchess as an HRH, however I've long suspected they were wide of the mark. The person most adamant about not recognizing the Duchess was Queen Mary, she set the tone for the females in the family.
Click to expand...

Quite ironic considering Princess Margaret is said to have treated Mary with disdain for not being born into royalty!
 
Quite ironic considering Princess Margaret is said to have treated Mary with disdain for not being born into royalty!
Click to expand...

Princess Margaret? Queen Mary's grandddaughter?
 
I can just imagine Queen Mary's reaction to her granddaughter looking down on her! :lol: And actually, Mary's mother was a Princess, Prss Mary Adelaide, granddaughter of King George III.

The only 'disdain' of that sort that I recollect happening in the BRF is Princess Marina of Greece's. She married George Duke of Kent, the youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary, and there is the story that she referred to her sisters in law, Elizabeth, then Duchess of York, and Alice Duchess of Gloucester as 'those little Scotch girls' in a derogatory sort of way. Alice was the daughter of a Scottish Duke and Elizabeth the daughter of a Scottish earl.
 
Last edited:
duchessrachel said:
I just finished reading "The Queen Mother" , by William Shawcross and am almost finished with "The Queen Mother: the Untold Story ..." by Lady Colin Campbell. The Shawcross novel was wonderful, but I am not quite sure what to make of the Campbell book. She takes a hatchet to the Queen Mother's character. How legit is this book? I prefer to think of the queen mother as presented in Shawcross novel.
Denville said:
Its not a novel
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Shawcross is as good or as bad as most authorised biographers. No scandal and what is there is the truth, albeit through rose coloured glasses. At least she is not ascribed malicious intent. However, the same cannot be said of unauthorised biographies such that written by Colin Cambell (she was only married to Lord Campbell for nine months).

While Colin Campbell's book my not be "a novel" parts were barely disguised plagiarism, and worse, more was sheer fiction, such as the claim that Elizabeth and her younger brother were born using the family's French cook as a surrogate. Why on earth would the Bowes-Lyon's family employ a surrogate for their ninth and tenth children beggars belief? They certainly didn't need an heir as they had more than enough spares.
 
Denville said:
Its not a novel
Click to expand...

I'm sorry if I misused the word. My question was simply about the reliability the book.

MARG said:
Shawcross is as good or as bad as most authorised biographers. No scandal and what is there is the truth, albeit through rose coloured glasses. At least she is not ascribed malicious intent. However, the same cannot be said of unauthorised biographies such that written by Colin Cambell (she was only married to Lord Campbell for nine months).

While Colin Campbell's book my not be "a novel" parts were barely disguised plagiarism, and worse, more was sheer fiction, such as the claim that Elizabeth and her younger brother were born using the family's French cook as a surrogate. Why on earth would the Bowes-Lyon's family employ a surrogate for their ninth and tenth children beggars belief? They certainly didn't need an heir as they had more than enough spares.
Click to expand...

Thank you. It is very over the top.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
duchessrachel said:
I'm sorry if I misused the word. My question was simply about the reliability the book.
Click to expand...
but whether it is reliable or not (I believe that Shawcross is pretty much so) it isn't a novel but a biography...

Curryong said:
I can just imagine Queen Mary's reaction to her granddaughter looking down on her! :lol: And actually, Mary's mother was a Princess, Prss Mary Adelaide, granddaughter of King George III.

.
Click to expand...
I doubt if Margaret woudl have dared, even fi she wanted to.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Her Majesty The Queen Mother at the opening of the Battle of Britain Museum in July 1993.

 
H.M.The Queen Mother visits St Edmunds RC School in July 1986



And a tour of East London in August 1990

 
Visit to St Mary's Church in May 1983,I think the then Archbishop of Canterbury is there too!



Visit to the Theatre Royal in March 1988 to mark its 50 Anniversary

 
When I read Lady Colin Campbell's book on the Queen Mother, she said that one of the reasons that she kept declining Prince Albert's proposals was because she really wanted to marry Prince Edward (the Duke of Windsor). I have no faith whatsoever in that book and am ashamed I even read it. But now, I am reading "That Woman" by Anne Sebba which is about the Duchess of Windsor and she makes the same claim. Is there any truth to this?
 
From what I understood her reasons for declining were she didn't want to marry into the BRF they were a very different type of family than the one she grew up in ..and she didn't love Albert at the time. That comes from the bios I've read on the Queen Mother and the other members of the family.


LaRae
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

ashelen
Queen Elizabeth's Bodyguard
Replies
0
Views
412
ashelen
ashelen
Blog Real
Genealogy of Queen Mary of Denmark
Replies
1
Views
499
Muhler
Muhler
Blog Real
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent & Strathearn & Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Replies
7
Views
1K
Prinsara
Prinsara
Blog Real
Curtea de Argeș Cathedral (burial place of the Romanian Royal Family)
Replies
1
Views
454
Blog Real
Blog Real
T
Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story
2 3
Replies
76
Views
12K
shady lady
shady lady

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom